Tag Archives: #boyscouts

BSA National just went live with registrations for the National Jamboree to be held at The Summit Bechtel Reserve near Beckley WV from July 15 – 29, 2017. We are stoked! Both Bear Bait and Tangled were able to go to Jambo in 2013, the first to be held at The Summit. Him as a Boy Scout and her as one of the first group of Venturing youth (including girls) to be able to attend. I really wanted to go on staff that time, but having had just changed jobs the year before, it wasn’t in the cards. Got to attend as a visitor for a day and it was a really amazing experience.

Needless to say, as soon as we heard that registration went live yesterday, we submitted our registrations…yesterday! Bear Bait as a Boy Scout again, and Tangled as a Venturing youth. It will be the last National Jamboree either can attend as youth participants. By the 2021 National Jamboree they’ll be adult Scouters (hopefully) and can go as Staff. I submitted a volunteer staff application. This is the email I got after my registration was submitted:

Dear <Middletownscouter>:

Thank you for submitting an application to be Volunteer Staff at 2017’s National Jamboree. You are receiving this email because we have record of you having submitted an application and having paid your deposit. As a reminder, no further payments are due until a staff position has been offered and accepted.

You will not receive any further updates concerning your application for the next 60-90 days. During that time, we will verify your BSA membership information. Once verified, your application will be routed to your council for the first step in the approval process. If there is a problem verifying your membership information, we will contact you to let you know.

At the completion of the Council review, you will be notified by email whether your application has been approved for Jamboree consideration or not. Please be patient during this process and keep your contact information updated within the jamboree registration system. Check your email (and junk/spam folder) on a regular basis.

Be sure and keep a copy of your confirmation for your records. When logging back into your account for any reason, you will use your registration code as your log in.

Registration Code: <snipped>

Thank you,
Jamboree Registrar

Woo-hoo! Time to start selling some popcorn…or patches…or plasma…it’s going to be expensive. Between registration fees, equipment, incidentals and spending money for the two kids last time we spent about $3000 for the two to attend. But it was (is, and will be) worth every penny!

When you register for Staff, you have to give them three preferences for where you’d like to volunteer. That can be kind of tough, there are many different choices! I put my three choices as:

The first because I’m hoping it could be something cool like helping with the constant barrage of social media posts to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. The second because it appears that the Troop 18 adults tend to work in that area (Mr. Dennis, Mr. Hines, Mr. Erwin, Mr. Mooney all did in 2013 and from what I hear most if not all plan to go back in 2017). The third because I know the zip lines / canopy tours were understaffed last time around and it will probably be very popular event again and I think it would be cool to help out there. I briefly thought about the patch trading area because I do like me some patches, but decided against because I’m sure the really anal patch police folks will probably be running that show and while I like to collect patches I wouldn’t consider myself an expert. I half thought about doing one of the aquatics items as well because it might let me be in the water some, but I’d probably have to get some kind of paddlecraft, lifeguard or aquatics training first.

If you are thinking about attending, my advice would be DO IT! DO IT NOW! It really is a great Scouting experience to be among 40,000 other Scouts and Scouters celebrating Scouting and doing all the fun stuff that makes Scouting, well, fun!

Expensive? Definitely. But it’s two years away. Start saving now. Have your Scout work towards it, fund raise, etc. I know in our council (Dan Beard Council #438) that scholarships are available to cover some of the cost. It’s worth the effort, and for the Scouts the effort they spend earning their way to Jamboree can help make that Jamboree experience all the more special and meaningful.

If you are registering a youth member (Boy Scout or Venturer), there is no immediate cost to register. If you are registering for staff, there is a $150 deposit due at the time you submit your registration.

Interesting in knowing more about Jamboree? You can learn more – and register – at the Summit website.